I've been here before and this time I am going through with it. I am going to build an aerial video platform and I am going to need some help. Since money is a bit of an issue I might not be able to have all that I want so I will be weighing cost against features and that is where I will need input from you guys. First of all is the platform, I would like to get away with a 450 quad but I'm not sure that will handle the weight because I would like to mount a 3 axis mount for my Action cam and I want to use Pixhawk flight controller. If I go with a 450 I'll probably have to use the mini stuff so am I giving up anything by going that way as opposed to going with a hexcopter and the full blown Pixhawk hardware? The other question is will a 450 quad have enough ass to lift my camera platform? This should be fun.

OK, I haven't lost sight of the prize and here is where I've been moving towards the bullseye. I sold my Eachine VR D2 Pro goggles because they weren't clear and I couldn't wear glasses with them. I'm not sure what I will replace them with yet. I also sold my Taranis Q X7, it sold almost immediately and I replaced it with a used Taranis X9D plus I bought for $125.00 supposedly in excellent condition, we'll see the beginning of next week. The seller said the only scratches are on the clear plastic view screen. I ordered a new one and they are pretty easy to replace. I am also going to order a six position Pot and knob that will solder to the spare lugs, this will support the different flight modes in the Pixhawk flight controller. I think Painless360 does a series on the Pixhawk and GPS features. I'm also looking at a DJI 450 with motors, ESC, Pix4 Mini, no RX and no GPS for $50.00 on RC Groups.

We came to terms of $62.00 shipped with everything but the radio. I figured I can't build a DJI 450 quad for $62.00 and the Minipix is an add-on bonus that I will use to push the boundaries a little with because I don't have a big investment in. Probably will try things like stretching out my waypoints to out of sight. Anyway, thoughts and opinions are certainly welcome and appreciated about my path so far and moving forward.

I know you guys are all leaning towards the DJI Spark and the like but someone lit a fire under me towards the Ardupilot type stuff a few years back and that fire just seems to continue to grow.